In the Yorkshire chocolate box village starring in a TV role: exploring beautiful Grassington, where Channel 5’s All Creatures Great & Small is filmed

Channel 5’s All Creatures Great & Small is always a crowd-pleaser: warm, evocative and full of much-needed bonhomie.

And you can experience some of that heart-warming fun by visiting the Yorkshire village of Grassington, where the series was filmed.

Grassington, in the Wharfedale Valley, replaces the fictional Dales town of Darrowby from James Herriot’s beloved book series, It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet.

James Herriot – real name Alf Wight – was a Scottish veterinarian who practiced in Thirsk for almost 50 years and based his books on real characters.

The center of Thirsk has changed a lot since the 1930s and 1940s, when Wight’s books were set, which is why filmmakers use nearby towns and villages as stand-ins. The much-loved BBC series – broadcast between 1978 and 1990 – was filmed in Wensleydale and Swaledale, with the village of Askrigg taking the place of Darrowby.

Grassington replaces the fictional 1930s Dales town of Darrowby in the Wharfedale Valley

LEFT: Carlton explains that Grassington’s real Devonshire Inn, pictured, is Drovers Arms in the TV series. RIGHT: A photo of the pub dressed as the Drovers Arms, as it appears in the show

I chose to stay with my wife, just outside Grassington, in beautiful surroundings Netherside Barnwith three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an outdoor terrace where you can enjoy enchanting views of Yorkshire.

Best of all, it was just a short walk from Grassington’s main cobbled square.

It’s where a lot of the TV series are set and we visited the modern businesses that look strangely familiar.

All Creatures Great and Small is based on James Herriot’s beloved book series, It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet

James Herriot – real name Alf Wight – was a Scottish veterinarian who practiced in Thirsk for almost 50 years and based his books on real characters. Above – Sedber Lane, Grassington

Thanks to its global fame, All Creatures Great & Small became a big hit in the US during the pandemic. As a result, Grassington (above) now plays host to American visitors all year round

The Channel 5 series revolves around a trio of vets working in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. Grassington is relatively easy to convert into a historic-looking Darrowby/Thirsk, clearing the cobbled village green of modern cars and replacing them with 1930s vehicles.

The fictional Drovers Arms is in reality the Devonshire Inn. The Rustic Rabbit gift shop is the bakery from the TV show.

The Stripey Badger bookshop – where you can buy All Creatures Great & Small jam and other trinkets – is dressed for the TV series to resemble wartime greengrocer Endelby’s. And forget buying a book at Handley’s, today you’ll only find shoes.

Grassington has regularly starred in film and TV productions including Dolittle, Wuthering Heights, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby and A Boy, A Girl and A Bike.

Thanks to its global fame, All Creatures Great & Small became a big hit in the US during the pandemic. As a result, Grassington now plays host to American visitors all year round.

Carlton stayed in the ‘beautiful’ Netherside Barn (upstairs), ‘with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an outside terrace from which to enjoy enchanting views of Yorkshire’

Netherside Barn was a short walk from the delights of Grassington, Carlton reveals

It’s hardly surprising. Travel company Expedia says that more than half of international travelers make travel plans inspired by TV shows and movies.

According to the British Film Institute, Britain is hugely popular for the phenomenon of ‘set jetting’, with incoming tourists spending £892.6 million in 2019. Castle Howard in North Yorkshire reported a 3,400 percent increase in visitors to its website after Bridgerton was released.

If that’s not an example of the potential of set jetting, I wonder what is.